Summer 2014 Summer Boat Trip -

This year for our annual vacation we decided to keep it a bit local. Our plan was to have our boat in Sturgeon Bay for the remainder of the season starting at the beginning of August. In the past few years we have left our boat in Sturgeon Bay for an extended time after our trip due to the water conditions on Winnebago after the end of July. 

Our destination was our favorite marina in Sturgeon Bay, Centerpointe Marina. The boat had been there for a couple of weeks prior to our trip. When we arrived at Centerpointe around 10am Thursday Morning we had to do some last min provisioning. Along with that the canvas had a few bad seams so I had it fixed at one of the local shops that morning as well. 

After last years big water trip where the family swore not to do another trip due to the wind and weather, we were tweaking our plan. For the first night the plan was to go stay on the hook at Nicolet Bay or Horseshoe island. Our friends the Derosier's went with us up to our first spot. We swam at Nicolet Bay and took t he dinghy to the beach and enjoyed the afternoon. Weather and waves were not an issue on this day it was beautiful. 

As the day was winding down Peyton and Grace swam to the boat and got some money to buy all the kids ice cream from the beach concession stand. After that we all went back to the boat and went across the bay to horseshoe island for the night. 

The kids gathered wood while the adults made a nice dock side steak dinner. During that time both Peyton and Pierce walked all over the island and had a great little adventure in the woods on their own. 

So Close

The boat is officially out of storage and having some gelcoat work done in Sturgeon Bay. We had noticed some cracking around the porthole window below windshield on the starboard side of the boat. When a survey was done a few years ago the surveyor notice a tiny amount of bubbling around the window and said it was the first sign of a leak and it should be addressed. I let it go a bit with the intention of taking care of it myself, however, time continued to slip by and never officially took care of it. So it was decided last fall before we put it in the water it would be taken care of professionally.

I am familiar with this work as I did fiberglass repair and finish work for my Dad's business for a few years.  The skills and equipment have come in handy over the years.  The older I get and the time stretched with work and family it is difficult to allocate time to these things. Especially if you want time to relax and enjoy the boat in our limited season.

Our spring season this year is a stark contrast to last year. Last year we had many days that were over 80 degrees by now. This year I think we have only been to 70 once otherwise we have been in the 30s and 40s for most of our spring.  May is just around the corner and we still are getting snow in the state. Hopefully next week it is done and we can put her in the water and start enjoying the boat!

Memories and Cold Winters

Today we have had record low temperatures...Susan and I are relaxing next to the fire; Christmas tree and decor are all aglow as our light source for the evening. Tonight we decided to update the screen saver on our Apple TV. We changed it from our RV trip we took with my parents in 2008 to our pictures from our most current summer boating trip. For the last 4 hours we have been watching our photos stream by. Actually, there are a lot! 537 pictures were taken between the four of us! As we sat all night watching them go by laughing an commenting on them, we really were taken aback. (Pierce even got into determining what picture he took and Peyton took.)

We have sat here and contemplated our life and how blessed we are. So many photos and so many memories. We now look back and really love the memories and think about how frustrating the time was and blame ourselves for a lot of the frustration, we both need to relax and enjoy. The pictures are moments in time that always seem so fun and relaxing. Tonight we are both planning the cities and marinas we want to got back to. Even though it was such a rough trip last year it was worth it as we suspected. There would be much regret if we did not take the risk in going. Yeah, we kind of got screwed by the weather and the this caused so much stress, but in the end we love it.  The best is when while watching the pictures stream by Pierce says "I love the boat". When a 5 year old is in love with our passion we know we are doing the right stuff.

A little update on life...As I feared after our trip I did end up losing my job. However, because of my wonderful, beautiful, intelligent wife and her stable job and income we were able to survive without a hiccup. It took about nine weeks for me to find employment. I was off for the end of August through October. During that time I was able to get the boat waxed and ready for storage along with a long list of honey do's. We have been blessed and are able to continue with our lifestyle. My job is perfect and I look forward to the future. We can't wait for April to get the boat out and enjoy her for another season. Once again making these wonderful family memories! (sweatshirts in late July should not be a thing!!!)